Coach Mo’s cancer scare rocks the community and stresses early detection | Opinion
Cancer sucks. It really does. But as I found to be the case a few years back, early detection and preventive screenings are essential in the fight against the disease.
When I learned a close friend named Ed Morse was diagnosed with a form of colon cancer known as adenocarcinoma, my heart sank. Morse is a middle school fitness teacher at the Kauffman School in Kansas City and a longtime assistant football coach at Lee’s Summit High School, where the beloved educator and coach is affectionately known as Coach Mo.
“We love Coach Mo so much at our school,” Kauffman seventh- and eighth-grade principal Shelli Carman-Brown wrote in an email. “Coach Mo is an icon at Kauffman. The way he loves our kids is unmatched and he makes our students feel seen, heard, valued.”
Morse and I played college football together at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg. His diagnosis saddened me. Just last year, another former UCM teammate of mine, a 1989 Odessa High School graduate named Joe Grubb, died from brain cancer. Grubb, a talented multi-sport athlete in high school, was posthumously inducted into the Odessa R-VII Public Foundation Hall of Fame and deservedly so. His death at 54 rocked his family, friends, coaches and former teammates, including me.
I couldn’t help but fear for the worse in Morse’s case. But the good news is Morse is home and recuperating after undergoing surgery May 1 to remove a mass on his colon. Even more encouraging is doctors determined no chemotherapy was needed to treat the cancer, according to his wife Jessica Morse.
“Oncologist says no chemo needed,” Jessica wrote May 18 in a Facebook post.
Community supports Coach Mo
In a private message Morse shared with me a few days later on Facebook, he said he was in good spirits and thankful for the love and support the community has shown him and his family during these challenging times — a GoFundMe page set up to help the Morse family offset medical bills and lost wages has raised almost $14,900, by far shattering its stated goal of $2,500.
“The support from the community has been absolutely amazing,” Morse wrote. “I wasn’t expecting the support I received. I actually was going to keep it quiet. It took two weeks for my wife to convince me to do a GoFundMe. I’m incredibly grateful for the support I received during this time of my life.”
Listen, I’ve known Morse since 1997. He is as rock solid as they come. Back then, teammates gave him the name Easy Ed because he was so fundamentally sound with his technique that he made playing defensive back look so effortless. To this day, I still call him that.
“Edward Morse is one of the kindest and most positive men I have ever had the pleasure of sharing the football field with,” former Lee’s Summit football head coach Eric Thomas wrote in a Facebook post April 29. Morse and I played college ball at UCM with Thomas, a 2025 inductee into the Missouri Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame and current head coach at Jefferson City High.
“He has impacted (thousands) of lives as a coach,” Thomas’ post continued. “Now we need (thousands) of people to impact him and his family. He is in for a fight but I know he is up to the task with some extra love and support. Your prayers cost nothing. Please add him and Jessica Morse and their family to your prayer list each day.”
So far, those prayers have been answered, Morse told me.
“Right now, I’m feeling unbelievably blessed that my Lord and savior has healed me with no treatment required,” he wrote. “Prayer works. I’m feeling highly favored and will use my second chance to grow close to God.”
My very own cancer scare
Morse is originally from Los Angeles. Much like me, he’s called the Kansas City area home for close to two decades. In April, he was admitted to the hospital for low hemoglobin levels, according to his GoFundMe page. After three days of testing and blood transfusions, a mass was found on Morse’s colon and a biopsy later confirmed it was cancerous.
On May 1, Morse underwent surgery to remove the mass. After spending almost three weeks in the hospital, Morse was discharged. In the time since, I’ve spent considerable time thinking about the fragility of life. A little over five years ago, I experienced my very own cancer scare. During my very first colonoscopy in late 2020, doctors discovered and removed two large precancerous polyps — small clumps of cells that form on the lining of the colon — that, if left undetected, could have led to much more serious health issues.
Three years later, I was given a clean bill of health after my second such procedure, and I’m scheduled for another round of the invasive procedure in 2029.
After learning about my former teammate Morse’s ordeal, I wanted to remind readers that none of us — young or old — are immune from this form of the disease. According to the American Cancer Society, colon and rectum cancer was the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men under 50.
Typically, people are urged to screen for colon cancer at 45. But advocates like Jackson Layton would like to see that recommendation changed. Layton, of Kansas City, Kansas, was only 27 when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer that had metastasized to his liver. Unfortunately, he died earlier this year at 29.
About a year before his death, Layton told me he wanted to raise awareness around colon cancer and early detection in young adults and I couldn’t help but admire his courage.
“What would my life be like if I had a colonoscopy four, five years ago?,” he said then. “Would I have Stage 4 colon cancer?”
Early detection saves lives. Get tested.
